


Goodnight, Theseus

by wearyopossum



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angel of Death Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Angst, Blood God Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Dream SMP Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Dream SMP Lore (Video Blogging RPF), Piglin Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Winged Philza, i swear i'm gonna scramble the egg myself, tommy's dead crab rave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:21:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29817294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearyopossum/pseuds/wearyopossum
Summary: The end of a life can be the end of a world for some.The Blood God can't save everyone.
Relationships: Ranboo & Philza, Ranboo & Technoblade, Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & Philza
Comments: 1
Kudos: 83





	Goodnight, Theseus

Ranboo had lived with him and Phil for a while, so when the half-enderman trudged through the snow that day, Technoblade knew something was wrong. He worked his jaw anxiously, but told himself making the kid talk if he didn’t want to wasn’t going to help anything, so he went back to tilling the soil of the farm, as he had been throughout the day. Only when he went inside to see Philza brewing potions did he decide to go check on Ranboo, as his friend looked a mess. His brow was furrowed in what definitely wasn't concentration as potion-making was easy for him, and he was chewing his nails. Any other person would wonder why Philza didn’t check on the boy himself if he was so worried, but Techno knew better. While Phil cared deeply for the children in their lives, he was terrified of how he could mess up and ruin things as he did with Wilbur. It was this fear that had kept him from showing affection to Tommy when they were allied, and it was the same fear getting in the way of seeing how Ranboo was doing now. As brave a face Technoblade may put on, he understood fear, knew it like the shape of his trident, so he was always willing to help Phil when he needed it. Now, he needed help, and that help was to go talk to the kid who lived out on the tundra with them, it was okay, he could do this. Or at least, that’s what a fidgety Technoblade told himself when he found himself outside Ranboo’s door. The voices picked up when he heard him begin to climb the ladder to greet him.

“Technowait”

“Watch your six”

“Fix sad Ranboy”

Techno shook his head as if it’d make them be quiet as Ranboo opened the door to let him in. 

“What’s up?” he asked as Techno, oddly enough, sat himself down on the red-carpeted side of the room and gestured for Ranboo to sit across from him.

“I think I should be asking you that, kid,” the piglin said slowly, trying his best to not come off as aggressive. Ranboo swallowed nervously but nodded and sat as Techno had invited him to. “So what’s bothering you?” he asked the boy after a moment. 

Ranboo looked down, “It’s fucking awful,” he laughed, not because anything was funny, but because if he didn’t he’d probably cry instead.

“I’ve heard a lot of awful things, I’ll be alright,” Techno practically whispered, “these things are easier to carry when you share the weight.”

“T-,” he swallowed thickly, “Tommy’s… gone.”

“Gone?” Techno repeated.

“Dream killed him,” Ranboo’s voice broke, “they left him in the prison with him and he killed him. It’s my fault. I knew they shouldn’t have left him in there with him and I didn’t say anything. Tommy’s fucking dead and it’s all my fault—” Techno had stood up when Ranboo started pulling at his hair and was now gathering the shaking collection of lanky limbs into his arms. He was light for how tall he was, and Techno carried him to the cabin with relative ease. The poor kid just let him, going limp in the piglin’s hold. 

“It’s not,” he said as he walked, “it’s not your fault.” He looked up at the moon, Selene the titan goddess, who had lived and loved before many of the now well-worshipped gods. He recalled the losses she has experienced and considered how she could still be so caring regardless as he thought:  _ It’s mine. _ Philza opened the door for him, having seen them through a window, and he continued to carry Ranboo, who’d fallen asleep in his arms upstairs and tuck him into his bed. He made a sort of nest for the exhausted boy out of his extra blankets and left him to rest. When he climbed back downstairs he wasn’t sure what to say, “Phil…”

“Yes, Techno?”

“Ranboo told me that Tommy was dead.” 

Phil froze, “How?”

“Dream killed him, apparently the warden left him in his cell with him,” Techno growled, “Phil, I fucking failed him.”

“How so?”

“Because I didn’t know so I couldn't do anything to help him.”

“How were you supposed to help the person who walked out on you? It’s not like he sent us letters,” Philza spoke gently, like Techno was a wild animal who could be spooked. At that moment, he definitely was. 

“I should’ve—I don’t fucking know. I only know I should've done  _ something _ ,” he was doing his best not to yell due to the person sleeping above them, but he was shaking in anger, though he couldn't quite say who he was angry with. “He was just a fucking kid, Phil.”

“You’re not much more than a kid yourself, Tech,” Philza retorted. The piglin only stood for another moment, eyes blank, before collapsing at Phil’s feet. 

“Everyone’s a kid to you, old man,” he murmured against Phil’s cloak. The winged man breathed out a soft laugh as he rested a hand between Techno’s ears. He fell asleep on the floor, leaning against his friend’s legs as he pet his head soothingly.

As the sun rose, Technoblade walked in the snow, leaving prints as he went. When he made it to the sheer stone wall, behind which resided his collection of wither skulls, he broke. The piglin fell to his knees, uncaring of the way the cold of the snow seeped through his pants and into his skin, and screamed. The voices wouldn’t, or maybe couldn’t, stop trying to convince him that Ranboo was either misled or lying to him. He leaned forward onto his hands and hung his head, the snow was painful on his fingers after a moment or two, but he’d do anything to get some sort of feeling to make the voices quiet. 

“Please,” he said aloud to the ice and rock around him. He let out a sob as he came to the realization he’d never even see Tommy’s body, no one in that godsdamned place would want him to attend a funeral—if there’d even be one—and he’d never be able to grieve the way he’s learned how to. There would be no closure for the Blood God, just screams in his own head from those he loves dying over and over again. Every life he lived added to the chorus of the condescending audience in his head. He heard footsteps that he knew like he did his own heartbeat behind him. At least there was one person he’d never have to save.

“Thought you’d be here,” Philza sighed. 

“Is Ranboo alone?” Techno asked immediately.

“No, he’s with Tubbo,” he responded, “They need each other right now.” The piglin snorted but nodded, Phil was right, as usual. The blond sat in the snow next to Techno, extending a dark wing around him. They remained there in silence for almost an hour before Techno decided that he could be upset later and needed to prioritize his tasks around the commune. Staying busy wouldn’t make the pain go away, but he could pretend.

That night, Technoblade sat on a fence and looked up at the same moon that had captured his attention when he’d first seen the overworld as a young brute stowed away in Philza’s bag. A child soldier, he’d been given an opportunity at life with less death when he saw someone enter the Nether that day, and he took it. Maybe it hadn’t worked out, since the Angel of Death couldn’t run from violence forever and his charge would always be by his side, but Techno could never say that he regretted it. 

But the kids… the kids here, now, weren’t born for a life of war, like he was. They really were just kids who happened to be stuck in dreadful situations one after the other. The only problem was that no one stepped up for them, not even when they needed it most.

Technoblade gazed up at Selene, and she smiled lovingly down on him as he spoke aloud to the freezing tundra, “Goodnight, Theseus.”

And maybe, just maybe, a lingering spirit heard him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! The streams really hurt my feelings so now we're all gonna have a nice big cry party while I project onto Techno, okay?


End file.
